The Great Southern American Roadtrip – 2024

Check out some of the fun we had on our latest adventure to the USA chasing music, food and beer which we took in August/September 2024.

We’d been wanting to tick off this roadtrip for many years and this year everything fell into place.

6 weeks away and four weeks on the road from Nashville to Dallas – what could possibly go wrong 🤷‍♂️

Obviously no trip can safely commence without the obligatory horrendously expensive pre flight celebration drinks. This year was no exception but the fact that you can have a beer and a glass of sparkling at 8am and no one bats an eye lid is brilliant.

We actually commenced this pre flight tradition the night before our departure when we tried something new and stayed at the airport hotel across the road from the departures gate.

It was a pretty good way to get in the mood.

First stop Los Angeles.

We flew with Delta airlines this year and cannot fault one thing. On time departure, seats comfortable, great inflight entertainment, excellent inflight service with way too many Bloody Mary’s and an early morning arrival into Los Angeles ahead of schedule.

The new Delta terminal at LAX is not like being in LAX – it is easy to navigate, and quick !

We were roadside within 45 minutes but then LA airport itself didn’t disappoint – another hour to get to the Uber pick up spot.

Into the car for the pretty busy trip down the freeway to our lifetime friend Joannie’s house in Anaheim.

We’ve been friends for over 40 years now and we are more like family than friends.

She makes us feel so welcome on every visit and we have our own Granny Flat/Pool house to stay in. Brilliant.

After emotional greetings the tradition continues with a visit to my favourite supermarket in the world – Vallartas – in Anaheim. It’s a Mexican market with anything and everything you need to make your Anaheim stay even more enjoyable. Fresh Mexican foods, more choice of cheap alcohol than you can imagine and bags of corn chips you can’t jump over for $5. What’s not to like?

That evening a bunch of friends came to visit – some we haven’t seen for ten years or more – and we had a great catch up.

Oh, I forgot to mention it was about 38 deg Celsius. So the pool got a great workout.

Over the next few days we hung out with Joannie, went to some cool places for lunch and drinks and dinner – Huntington Beach, Newport, Laguna- and as always ate and drank way too much.

After not having been to the US since 2019 we realised that prices of goods and services are on par with at home. With a few exceptions – petrol is waaaay cheaper at around AUD$1/litre compared with the $2/litre we pay back home.

What kills the pricing is the current exchange rate of 67c to the Aussie dollar. Then local taxes, state and county taxes and the ever controversial 18%-30% tip.

But it is what it is and even the thought of paying AUD$20 for one beer in a bar can’t get you down.

Joannie got some awesome tickets to an amazing show at the Laguna Art precinct called “Pageant of the Masters”

It is a live art show where actors form scenes from famous paintings of the past. Brilliant.

A train trip up to Union Station on downtown LA and lunch and shopping in Olvera Street, as well as countless other visits to bars and cafes topped off four fabulous days in Southern California.